After having done a few hikes in New Zealand Justin and I decided that it was time for a new challenge. We set our eyes on Patagonia and the O Circuit trek in the Torres del Paine National Park in Southern Chile. The trek is the full loop version of a well known shorter hike called the W trek, which roughly resembles a W and the O trek a vague O.

We wanted to really soak in the scenery so we decided to give ourselves plenty of time and took nine days to hike round the O circuit track. Most people hike the O circuit over six to nine days, but ultimately it all depends on how far you want to hike in one day or if you want to take your time and enjoy the scenery and crazy weather. You can watch our YouTube video of our nine day adventure and below I’ve covered off a bit of detail about the hike, camping spots and Refugios. If you have any questions on things I haven’t covered feel free to ask or comment below.

Booking Campsites or refugios (Lodges)

If you are looking to do the hike independently the number of days you decide to hike may depend on how early you book as making a booking isn’t the easiest and needs to be done across two or three websites: Vertice, Conaf, and Fantastico Sur. In most spots you have the option of camping or staying in a Refugio (mountain lodges). Some of the Refugios have the option of cooked meals and packed lunches as well as being able to purchase food and drinks when you arrive. The Refugios and camping sites vary greatly with some offering really nice hot showers and facilities, to others being a basic shelter for cooking in and a hole for a toilet.

When you’ve decided you want to go make sure you start checking the websites for indications of the booking times. We booked on two of the websites in June for our November hike. Many of the campsites were booked just days after the booking sites became open - so treat it like booking a festival ticket and keep an eye on their social media pages for when they are planning to open for bookings. The bookings for Conaf were available a lot later than the other locations so when any of the companies open their bookings just book and hope that you will manage to get the other locations. Also, note that if you use google's page translate option this will sometimes stop the payment sections from working.

Hiking times and distances

When researching and actually hiking the track we were presented with many variances to the times and distances from the official maps, people’s GPS, and the signs on the track. Therefore, I’ve given rough distances throughout this post and you can also download the official map from the Conaf website. I would also like to warn you that if you’re doing the hike don’t believe the signs as they are often completely wrong and some hikers have even taken to scratching out the wrong parts.

Day 1: from Hotel Las Torres to Campamento Seron

Distance: 13 - 16 kilometres

Time: 4 - 5 hours

The hike took us about five hours with several stops for food and photos. The terrain was mostly flat but we did walk slowly as it was a hot day and our packs really were stupidly heavy. There were many points that I thought about all the items I had packed and what I should’ve left behind.

Campsite details: Campamento Seron was a nice grassy campsite with a tent shelter for cooking with picnic tables to eat at. There were hot showers and proper toilets. Even though we were nowhere near any glaciers this was one of the coldest nights we had on the whole trek with temperatures going below zero overnight. You can also buy basic snacks and a rather expensive $8000 pesos can of beer, which is approximately $20 NZD. View Campamento Seron.

Day 2: Campamento Seron to Refugio DicksoN

Distance: 18 - 19 kilometres

Time: 6 - 7 hours

Our second day was long and hard but mostly due to the weight in our packs and having a decent 19 km to hike. It took us six and a half hrs and there were definite moments of complaining about the weight in our packs. It was also a very hot day with the sun beating down on us the whole way. We had unfortunately made the stupid mistake of not packing sufficient sunscreen so by the end of the day we were pretty exhausted. There was a bit of a climb near the start that was hard but once you get over the hill you enter the valley of the wind that has amazing views across the valley. It wasn’t too windy while we were there so we managed to have a break and enjoy the magnificent views.

After that there was a gradual descent and easy track through the valley. The track was pretty moderate for the rest of the day with a small climb up and down at the very end before you reached the campsite. Before the final climb do take some time to enjoy the view from the top of the hill as you could see the glacier, icebergs and campsite in the distance that was beautiful. We were lucky to have great weather - if it was windy it would have been intense walking over the last part before the campsite.

Campsite: We were fortunate with the weather and enjoyed a nice cold beer in the afternoon sun looking out to the glacier while watching floating icebergs nearby. I read in many blogs that the campsite can be very windy so as with many of the other camping spots make sure you find a nice sheltered spot where possible. When we were at Refugio Dickson they were in the process of building the cooking building so there will be a nice building to cook in. There were really nice hot showers - some of the best from the whole hike. You could buy snacks and beer which was more affordable than the first campsite at approx $4000 pesos and you could pay by credit card. View Refugio Dickson.

Day 3: Refugio Dickson to Campamento Los Perros

Distance: 10.5 - 12 kilometres

Time: 3.5 - 4.5 hours

The hike here took us four and a half hours with a few breaks. The majority of this day was walking uphill, which was a steady but not too steep climb. We were really lucky to yet again have beautiful weather, which made it a hot walk. Yet again I wished I had packed less and was starting to wonder where the terrible weather was that I had packed and prepared for.

Campsite: There is a shelter for cooking and lots of spots between the trees for camping. At the time we were there, there was only one working toilet. However, from looking at their website it looks like they have expanded on the shelter for cooking in and the facilities. There is a small shop with expensive beer at $7000 pesos for a can of beer and there were a few power points. I believe the power is only on for certain times of the day so I wouldn’t go expecting to be able to charge items. View Campamento Los Perros.

Day 4: Campamento Los Perros to Campamento Paso

Distance: 7.5 - 8 kilometres

Time: 5 - 6 hours

Today we started hiking a bit earlier and left camp at 6.50 am as we were told by the rangers we had to leave by 7am otherwise we wouldn’t be allowed to cross over the pass. However, later that evening we found out that they did let people pass later in the day. They have this rule as apparently the weather is better in the morning but I believe it is more because generally the weather can turn quickly and they don’t want lots of people getting into trouble hiking over John Gardner Pass late in the day. The rangers at the campsites on either side keep in touch so they know how many people are hiking over the pass, which can have extreme wind and snow.

As we started our climb our luck with the weather turned and it started to rain and the Patagonian winds that we heard so much about started to pick up. This made for a very wet and cold hike up towards the pass, which started with muddy clambering over trees to climbing over exposed rocks that then turned into snow and ice. Retrospectively I should’ve stopped when I had a chance to put on another layer as I got rather cold as we climbed up the pass.

There was a bit more snow than I expected and at points it was quite steep. There were moments that I wished I had my mini crampons as if you slipped it wouldn’t have been a great look sliding down the steep snow onto rocks. Sadly I didn’t get any photos or videos at this point as my hands were frozen and we were concentrating on just getting up safely. I was glad to have my hiking poles as they made a huge difference especially when climbing up the snow.

Once we made it over the top we were greeted with the vast view of the Glacier Grey spreading out across the horizon. We then had our next challenge of making our way down the other side of the pass that involved a steep descent sliding down snow and mud. There was a handrail and ropes in parts of the trip down but it was super slippery with the snow. Shortly after starting our descent we were greeted by the Campamento Paso ranger who bounced up the pass greeting everyone making their way down and checking to see how everyone was doing.

Thankfully the wind dropped off and we started drying while walking. There were a couple of nice viewpoints as we got closer to the campsite with one over a bridge. Even though Campamento Paso was very basic we were happy to arrive and glad that we had a spot here and didn’t have to continue on to Refugio Grey.

Campsite: Most people skipped Campamento Paso and went on to Refugio Grey. In fairness this was mostly due to the campsite being very small so there were only a handful of tent spots. The campsite is right back to basics, with a shelter/shack to cook in which is open on one side. The toilet is literally a hole in the ground with a rope to hold onto.

Day 5: Campamento Paso to Refugio Grey

Distance: 7 - 10 kilometres

Time: 3 - 5 hours

It only took us three hours to hike from Campamento Paso to Refugio Grey but this is likely because we spent the night at Paso instead of hiking from Los Perros. There were three high swing bridges that offered brilliant views of the glacier and surrounding mountains.

Campsite: At Refugio Grey you feel like you’re back in civilisation as there is a nice big lodge with a restaurant, shop and hot showers. The food is expensive but after hiking for five days we were happy to sit beside a fireplace, have some non freeze dried food and a nice glass of wine (approx $6000 pesos). Now that you’ve reached the start of the W trek it is a lot busier with lots of day hikers and hikers in tour groups. You can do optional activities such as kayak or take a tour to hike on the glacier. They take credit cards here so you don’t need to bring cash with you and you can also charge your phones.

When picking a camping spot try to find a spot in the trees as the winds can pick up out of nowhere and in the trees it is sheltered. Friends we met on the track camped out in the open and barely slept the night as the winds battered their tents, yet we were quite happy in our little spot in the trees. View Refugio Grey.

Day 6: Refugio Grey to Paine Grande

Distance: 11 - 11.5 kilometres

Time: 3 - 4 hours

The hike was quite exposed as much of the trees in this section of the track were burnt a few years back when someone was careless with their cooker. We battered against the winds and made it to Paine Grande just in time to put our ten up before the horizontal wind came in to attack.

Campsite: This campsite is known for being the wildest, weather-beaten spot as well as being one of the largest. Most of the camping spots are out in the open with a few tiny trees and man-made barricades created to shelter tents from the wind. This was one of the points where we were thankful for having our tent and not others. We saw one guy try to pitch his tent and then the wind started blowing it away. He thought he was clever getting inside the tent but soon he realised he wasn’t heavy enough and the tent rolled a fair distance across the ground with him inside it unable to stop it. We watched similar scenes for hours from the campers cooking shelter as people tried to pitch their tents in the gale winds and pouring rain. Some gave up and squished in with friends who managed to get their tents up. Being at this campsite made us pretty thankful for having bought our tent (Exped Venus 2) as it was easy to put up with the fly being attached to the inner and had a good profile to battle against the wild winds.

The showers for the campers weren’t so great as the door kept being blown open so it was cold. You also had to keep pushing the button for the water to run so it made for a short and rather cold shower. I imagine it was quite different if you were staying inside the lodge/refugio. The bar inside the Refugio was nice and had a good vibe to it with music and a wide range of drinks and cocktails (yes cocktails mid hike, who would’ve thought). If you’re struggling from being away from the normal world there is also WiFi which is approx 5 USD for one hour, which isn’t too bad for when you’re meant to be hiking in the middle of nowhere. View Paine Grande.

Day 7: Paine Grande to Frances via Italiano

Distance: 20 - 21 kilometres

Time: 8.5 - 9 hours

It was a pretty gentle hike to Italiano but the strong winds made it a battle to be able to walk without being pushed over. Thankfully it wasn’t too long until we made it to Italiano. Here we dropped our big packs and grabbed the day pack, drink bottles and made the hike up the Valley Frances to see more glaciers and what was meant to be an amazing view. Unfortunately the weather really wasn’t on our side and we were blasted with wind, hail and sleet as we climbed up to the first look out. It was extremely cold as we soaked in the views and then made the call to not head to the very top as with the conditions there wasn’t much point as we wouldn’t see anything.

We hiked back down to Campamento Italiano, which was a very basic campsite with long drops (although better than Campamento Paso). It was a cute little spot in the trees so if the weather was better it would’ve been nice to camp there. I had a pretty bad stomach ache by this point and with the horrible weather, we decided to soldier on for another few hours to get to Campamento Frances. This meant that the next day would be a shorter hike as well.

Campsite: Frances was a nice campground but yet again we had to camp on a wooden platform. I guess this was the only way to make room for tents as the campsite was on the hillside. There wasn’t a cooking shelter but that was made up for by having some of the best hot showers. After a long icy wet and cold day, this was amazing. There also was a little Refugio where you could purchase some hot food, drinks, and snacks. The downside was that it was at the bottom of a hill with a steep climb back up to the bathrooms and tent sites. When your legs are tired this is a challenge. View Campamento Frances.

Day 8: Frances to Refugio Chileno

Distance: 18 - 19 kilometres

Time: 7 - 8.5 hours

I was feeling rather unwell by this point so we took our time getting up even though we had a long day ahead of us. The track had a gradual climb up and down as you weave along the side of the mountain with the lake on our right. We hiked past Los Cuernos on the way and I have to say I would’ve liked to have camped there as the scenery was beautiful overlooking the lake with the mountains behind you and with little huts across the hillside. I also managed to see a little fox walking around the campsites. Before reaching Chileno there is a big long climb uphill and then a short downhill walk to the Refugio.

Campsite: You are not allowed to cook at Refugio Chileno but they will give you hot water to put into a freeze-dried meal. The alternative is to buy a meal from them in their nice little Refugio. We were pretty tired by this point so decided to buy some food and wine to have at the Refugio. The campsites are yet again on wooden platforms. By this stage we were getting pretty good at pitching a tent on a platform.

In previous years you could camp at the Torres campsite near the bottom of the towers before the last big climb. They’ve been closed now for several years and it doesn’t look like they will be opening them up again. View Refugio Chileno.

Day 9: Refugio Chileno up to the Towers and back down to the car park

Distance: 14 - 15 kilometres

Time: 7 hours

If the weather is good most people get up before sunrise to hike up to the top to watch the sun rise over the towers. If you decide that you want to do this you need to sneak past the rangers and staff as they will try and stop you as you’re not allowed to be on the track at night. The weather was cloudy and bad early in the morning so we were happy to sleep in and we decided to hike up late in the morning. We were really glad that we waited as those who hiked up before dawn barely even saw the lake at the bottom of the towers, whereas we were fortunate enough to be there while the clouds cleared. From the campsite it is pretty much entirely straight up climbing through trees and then eventually up rocks to get to the lake below the towers. It really is a majestic view once you get to the top. We spent a good hour taking lots of photos at the top and soaking in the views. From there we had a long downhill climb back to where we started nine days earlier.

We had such a great time hiking the O circuit track. It came with many challenges from the weight of our packs, to an upset stomach and battling the crazy winds, but it all made it an awesome adventure and our longest hike to date. Now time to plan our next adventure…